A small history

Before C++, there was C:

• The C language was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Telephone lab, primarily as a systems programming language (to write operating systems).
• C was designed to give the programmer a lot of control, while allowing developers to write a program that could be run on different platforms.
• C ended up being so efficient and flexible that in 1973, Ritchie and Ken Thompson rewrote most of the Unix operating system using C.

Then C was born:

• C++ (pronounced “see plus plus”) was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Labs as an extension to C, starting in 1979.
• C++ adds many new features to the C language, and is perhaps best thought of as a superset of C.
• C++’s most notable innovation over C is that it supports object-oriented programming.

Introduction to C and C++’s philosophy

• The underlying design philosophy of C and C++ can be summed up as “trust the programmer” – which is both wonderful and dangerous.

• C++ is designed to allow the programmer a high degree of freedom to do what they want.

• this also means the language often won’t stop you from doing things that don’t make sense.

• C++ is a compiled language.

Compiled vs Scripting Language (C++ vs Python)

What is C++ good at?

• Video games
• Real-time systems
• High-performance financial applications (e.g. high frequency trading)
• Graphical applications and simulations
• Productivity / office applications
• Embedded software
• Audio and video processing
• Artificial intelligence and neural networks

C++ also has a large number of high-quality 3rd party libraries available, which can shorten development times significantly.

Hello world in C++

#include <iostream> // to use std::cout

int main() {    // Every program has function main()
    std::cout << "Welcome everybody to ENG3091!" << std::endl;  // note semicolor at the end
    std::cout << "\nWe shall learn:\n";                         // most of statement ends with semicolon
    std::cout << "(1) C++ Basics\n";
    std::cout << "(2) Object-oriented in C++\n";
    std::cout << "(3) Some standard libraries in C++\n";
    std::cout << "(4) Unified Modelling Language\n";
    return 0;           // The program returns "0", meaning it executes successfully.
}

• We need to compile this program to see the output. Watch me!

Another program example

#include <iostream> // to use std::cout

// We can do some mathematics.
int main() {
    double a = 5.5;     
    double b = 4.5;
    std::cout << "a + b = " << a + b << std::endl;
    std::cout << "This program is almost useless\n";
    return 0;
}

• We need to compile this program to see the output. Watch me!

Curriculum

1. Basic C++

   Variables, Functions, Control Flow
   

2. Intermediate C++

   References, Pointers, Template, Function Overriding, Dynamic Array

3. Object-oriented Programming (OOP)

   \(4\) pillars of OOP: \((1)\) Encapsulation, \((2)\) Abstraction, \((3)\) Inheritance, \((4)\) Polymorphism

4. Standard Template Library (STL)

   • Some commonly used STL containers: Vector, List, Array, \(\ldots\)
   • Some commonly used STL algorithms: Sort, Find, Count, Unique, \(\ldots\)

5. Unified Modelling Language:

   In this course, we learn how to organize a large project by using class diagrams

Curriculum: Extra when we have enough time

6. make and cmake – Extra materials: Coverred if we have enough time.

   How to automate build process, how to install open-source libraries and how to build our own libraries

What is software engineering?

What is software engineering?

The word software engineering is overstated in this course!!!

My opinions:

• You must be kidding me.

  • A software engineer’s average salary varies greatly by location, experience, and company, but in the UK, it generally ranges from entry-level around \(£25k-£35k\) up to \(£70k+\) for senior roles, with London often paying more, while in the US, median total compensation can exceed $\(180k\), especially at top tech firms.

  • The School of Engineering asks me to teach Software Engineering in 10 weeks?  Mission impossible!

• Can you become a software engineer after \(10\) weeks of learning C++ and class diagrams?

  • HELL NO

• Then, why do we even need to learn?

  • Whoever we want to become, we need to build the first brick.

Will learning Programming & Software Engineering be still relevant in AI era?

I am teaching C++ at School of Engineering, Uni of Glasgow. Many students believe that AI Chatbot like ChatGPT, Gemini and CoPilot will soon replace software engineering. What is your opinion about this?

Let us ask Gemini, CoPilot and ChatGPT what they think.

Answer from Gemini

Answer from CoPilot

Answer from ChatGPT

Assessment

• \(2\) Continuous Assessments: \(25\%\) + \(25\%\)
  • For each assessment: A group of \(2\) or \(3\) students will work on the same assignment and get the same grade (peer review grade is under consideration).
  • Please talk to each other and team up on your willing.
  • From my own experience, you tend to get better grades working in pair/group than working individually.
• \(1\) Paper Exam: \(50\%\)

Performce of the students in the last few years

Performance on the last three years

• Year 2022/2023 – Nick Bailey: 36 \(\rightarrow\) On average, E2
• Year 2023/2024 – Nick Bailey: 35 \(\rightarrow\) On average, E2
• Year 2024/2025 – Khiem Nguyen: 45 \(\rightarrow\) On average, D2
• Mid-term assignment grades from me are also significantly higher than from Nick Bailey – On average: A3 (or probably A2) from me and A5 from Nick Bailey.

Question  Huge difference between mid-term assignments and final paper exam???

How to learn this course

• As with any programming language, you need to:
  1. practice
  2. practice
  3. practice
• Can you use AI Chatbot to learn this course?
  • Hell, yes!
  • But you really need to “learn”. There is a hudge difference between “you understand” and “you think you understand”.
• It is foolish to think that
  1. “I only need to worry about the big picture, AI Chatbot will do programming in the future.”
  2. “AI Chatbot will replace software developers.”
  3. “Why do we need to study programming in the era of AI Boom!”